Punch shots: Browns' deal makes a bad team worse

Sometimes, you start to wonder out loud how a team can stay so bad for so long.

Then the Cleveland Browns ever so kindly answer your question with a logic-defying move that seems stupid even by their “lofty” standards like they did Wednesday afternoon.

The Browns announced they traded running back Trent Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts for a first-round pick and sent Twitter into a tizzy within no time.

You remember Richardson, right? He was the 225-pound rhinoceros who finished third in the 2011 Heisman Trophy voting while helping Alabama win its 452nd national championship (give or take). Then Richardson went No. 3 in the draft to the Browns, where he had nearly 1,000 rushing yards and nearly 400 receiving yards as a rookie behind a bad offensive line and Brandon Weeden at quarterback.

Yes, the same Brandon Weeden who made the 2012 Eagles secondary look like future Hall of Famers.

Naturally, the Browns dealt Richardson Wednesday while mumbling something about him “not fitting the scheme,” an explosive scheme that has helped Cleveland score 16 combined points in two games. At the same time, Colts quarterback Andrew Luck probably broke into a dance when he heard the news.

Listen, Browns. I get it. You want to tank and be as bad as possible in order to get a great draft pick where you can take Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater or South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney. But the point of getting good young players is to put them around OTHER good young players. See where I’m going with this?

In other words, trading the only skill position guy on your offense is probably a terrible idea, but what do I know? Cleveland’s history seems to back this move, right?